The Snippet-3-transparent Transisitor

ECE ASSOCIATION National Institute of Technology, Warangal.

TRANSPARENT TRANSISTOR Imagine a car windshield that suddenly lights up to reveal a map of the city and directions to your next destination !!! Or picture a computer display that you can not only see through but also roll into a tube and slip into your coat pocket !!! Scientists in Japan have taken a major step to fulfilling such visions with the creation of a transparent transistor deposited on plastic. Hideo Hosono and his colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology developed a transparent semiconductor material out of indium gallium zinc oxide. Although other research groups have previously made transparent circuitry, "their performance was not so good," says Hosono. In contrast, prototype transistors made from his team's new material are 10 times as conductive as the silicon transistors used in today's liquid-crystal displays. Hosono attributes his material's success to the greater mobility of electrons when a voltage is applied.

Depositing standard silicon transistors on plastic is nearly impossible since the process requires much heat. That would melt the plastic. However, the indium gallium zinc oxide goes onto plastic at room temperature. A number of groups in academia and industry have created electronic components out of organic materials for flexible computer displays In addition to providing a host of specialty applications, transparent circuitry could make existing displays brighter by increasing the amount of light reaching the viewer's eyes. As in all new technologies, devising methods for mass production presents a technical hurdle. The method that the researchers used to deposit the transistors on plastic isn't amenable to large-scale manufacturing. It remains to be seen whether the researchers can find a method for making large quantities of high-quality transistors.

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Transparent transistors might improve the quality of liquid crystal displays, which are a $10 billion to $15 billion industry, making the displays more clear and bright. Electronic devices might be built into window glass or the windshield of a vehicle, allowing a range of new functions or the transmission of visual information. Many electronic devices such as flat panel displays have glass that now serves no electronic purpose, but could accommodate new circuits or functions.